Why I Named Them Rusty and Wally

I keep getting asked why I named Jeremy's Wampa costume for the 501st Rusty. I think on one of my Wampa posts I even said I need to explain this eventually. So here is the story.

After spending several hours in Jeremy's garage helping building the Wampa, I would always stare at the walls at times. One of the things on the wall is this name badge like for a mechanics shirt that says Rusty over the work bench. I kinda forgot about it for awhile. After CV, I told him we should name the Wampa. He's like what? Name him. I randomly said a few names that I can't remember right now. Then I remembered the name badge over his work bench. I then named him Rusty. By now it has stuck at this point. People ask for Rusty specifically.

Now for the wampack. When we were at CV we went to the Ice Bar one night. We hung out with some people that were there for the convention. They had the Celebration Exclusive Wampa Plush. They kept calling him Wally. They even let me carry him around for awhile. Every since then anytime I saw that specific plush, I would call him Wally. So when I made the wampack there was no better name for him then Wally.

What's To Come From inkstress.net

I will be posting many more articles on inkstress.net over the next few months heading up til CVI and of course after that. I have a few ideas already in order for the site.

• Costume Builds
• Costume Modifications
• Naming of the Wampas
• Travels
• Crafts
• Jeep Modifications
• My Thoughts on SWTOR
• Tattoo Designs including with the Continuation of my Right Sleeve
• And Guest Authors

After all, its time for a Star Wars Celebration.

Wally the Wampa Backpack

Along the lines of the Star Wars backpacks like the Chewy, Yoda and R2 ones, I decided I wanted a Wampa backpack. Since I'm the wampa handler and that is probably the one thing I'm most known for these days and since no one has one available to buy I decided to make one myself...kinda.

At Star Wars Celebration 5 they released a wampa plush that the arm could come off. I'm not too crafty so I decided to take that exclusive plush and turn it into a backpack. I hunted him down online and soon he was here.

I took a kids backpack to get the straps plus the fabric I would need to make a pocket. I cut the straps at the seams. Then cut out the inside lining to make the pocket. I sewed the straps into the shoulder area of the plush. Then again above the legs. Next I realize I couldn't cut into the fur like I thought to turn the insides into a bag. So I took the lining folded it over, sewed it over, attached snaps and then sewed it between the straps. Its not a large pouch but I can put in a few things, like my cell phone or my wallet or my camera. Just the basics.

I wore the wampack both days at Megacon and people were stopping me and taking pictures and asked where I bought it. He was a hit. I did have one person surprised that I did this to an exclusive but then again they loved it. I had several people wanting me to make one for them as well.

I will eventually cut into the fur and into the insides to make it really into a backpack to hold more and add a zipper to it. But for right now Wally is just a cute little backpack for me to carry around at conventions and events.

On a side note on where the name Wally came from. At SWCV, we went to the Ice Bar one night. There was one lady there that had this plush and she called him Wally. It kinda stuck. So I dub thee Wally the Wampack.